Finding Joy

"Now Scout, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." said Atticus.
Suddenly, there was a flash of gray and something struck the back of Atticus's head, causing his hat to fly off.
"Son of a - !"
"Jim, get my gun." Atticus said grimly, retrieving his hat from the ground and dusting it off before placing it back on his head. "It's time to start sinning!"

Seriously planettom, that book is ridiculous when it says "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mocking bird." All the most annoying birds that wake me up at 6 in the morning, or dive bomb people, seem to be the mockingbirds. Really interesting that they can recognize people. I wonder how closely they can distinguish--were the volunteers the same build/hair color?

They're smart and socially organized. I've seen a bunch of them gang up and kill a crow 3-4 times their size. Luckily after a couple of years I've trained them not to come/nest closer then a few hundred feet of the forest line to my property - any closer and you hear their annoying cawing. How were they trained you ask - with a scoped .22 of course.

I saw a single mockingbird chase off a hawk the other day. The other day two mockingbirds were mauling a crow together. I love to watch them, but would hate to be a victim of their wrath.

I was also wondering what exactly they recognize about a person, because there's one outside my workplace that has targeted me for some reason. I am toying with the idea of wearing a hat when I leave work :-)